Hungry Elephant Rummages Through Rubbish Left Behind By Tourists
Published
Featured Image Credit: Caters
In animal news that's sure to bring a tear to your eyes, a hungry elephant was spotted rummaging through rubbish.
The heartbreaking photos show the creature digging though piles of packaging and plastic waste that was left behind in West Bengal, India, with his trunk. Rubbish also covers the elephant's back in the poignant images.
The photos were taken by sports journalist Pranab Das, who said that tourists had left the rubbish behind after visiting the area - and this is awful news!
Pranab hoped that by sharing the shocking images, that others would be more mindful of the environment and take their rubbish home with them.
"The garbage was left behind by vans," he said. "I hope these photos encourage people to stop littering."
It's not clear why tourists left the rubbish at that particular site or where the elephant had come from and why he was so hungry, but it's a stark reminder of the realities of plastic consumption on the environment.
And, while taking the photos, Pranab also sadly revealed that he'd seen the elephant consuming plastic too.
"The elephant was snacking on plastic which was painful for me to see," Pranab added.
It seems that Pranab first posted the images to his NiF Hive account, a website dedicated to nature photography.
The budding photographer has also uploaded photos of moths, beetles, frogs and other images of nature to the site.
In happier animal news, the 'world's loneliest elephant', who has been living in the same zoo for 35 years, has now been given the green light to move to an animal sanctuary.
Elephant Kaavan has lived in the Marghazar Zoo in Islamabad for over three decades and lost his partner elephant Saheli in 2012. It is hoped he will now be relocated to a sanctuary, possibly in Cambodia.
We wish him all the best!